


May I Have This Dance?

by Hazama_d20



Series: Side Hoes Week 2021 [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Backstory, Dancing, Gen, This wasn't supposed to be this gay, but here we are, happiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29934771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hazama_d20/pseuds/Hazama_d20
Summary: Sam, in the middle of trying to teach Dora political history and how to be a good ruler, learns about Dora's regrets.
Series: Side Hoes Week 2021 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2198235
Kudos: 15





	May I Have This Dance?

**Author's Note:**

> This is written for Side Hoes week 2021. The Prompt for March 8th was Sam and Happiness.

Sam walked down the hallway of a massive castle. Her footsteps echoed off the curved arches and stone walls. It was the only sound to be heard. Feeling a prickle of unease, Sam adjusted her backpack just to add some sound to the dead silence. 

Maybe she should have asked Danny just to drop her off directly where she was going. 

Eventually, she made it to a massive double door. She knocked on the door as gently as she could, but still, the noise echoed throughout the hall, making her wince. 

“Come in!” was the immediate response.

Sam pressed on the door, but it didn’t budge. She put her back into it and felt it give, but something held it in place. She tilted her head for a moment in thought and then placed her hand gently against the door. 

A moment later, her hand began to phase through the door, followed soon by her body. “Door was locked!” she called out.

The occupant of the room, a woman in a pale blue dress with long blonde hair braided down to her waist, turned toward Sam and gasped. “Oh, dear! I’m sorry! I must have forgotten.”

Sam waved it off. “It’s not a problem, Dora.”

Dora bowed slightly. “I should not-”

“Your Highness!” Sam cut off. At the title, Dora straightened with eyes wide. Sam smiled gently. “You don’t need to apologize.”

Dora opened her mouth and closed it. She took a deep breath and looked Sam in the eyes and spoke sternly, “To begin with, I’ve told you not to call me that, Samantha.” Both Dora and Sam had to work to keep a smirk down. “Secondly, even if I do not have to apologize, I still feel the desire to.”

Sam let out a long-suffering sigh. “Very well, I will let you apologize.” 

Dora gave her a curtsy. “Thank you. I apologize for forgetting to unlock the door for you. I seem to forget that the castle is mine now.”

Sam nodded. “Apology accepted.” She took her backpack off and held it up for Dora to look at. “Shall we start studying?”

Dora clapped her hands. “Yes, please!” She snapped her fingers, and a moment later, there was a knock on the door.

“Your Highness, you seem to have left the door locked.”

Sam laughed as Dora blushed. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Dora called out, walking over to the door. She brushed her dress as she tried to calm her blush. Moving the bolt, she pushed the door open. “Lady Sam and I will be studying for the foreseeable future. Please bring some refreshments and…” She glanced back at Sam as she made sure she used the right word, “Snacks.”

“As you wish, Your Highness,” the ghost on the other side said as he bowed.

Dora turned back. “And make sure that none of it comes from an animal.”

The ghost had not come up from the bow. “Of course, Your Highness.”

Dora closed the door and faced Sam. “Now then, shall we get started?”

Sam put her backpack on the table and unzipped it. “I’ve brought several books for us to go over: ‘The Prince’ by Machiavelli, ‘Plato’s Republic’, ’The Communist Manifesto’. I don’t expect us to finish them, but I have multiple copies, so I can leave them with you.”

Dora raised an eyebrow and sat down in a chair near Sam. “I seem to recall you saying that my brother would like Machiavelli.” Her voice wavered slightly, as though she was trying to suppress an unpleasant memory.

Sam let out a hum and sat down. “Well, yes, but some people think he was being satirical. Regardless, I think you  _ should  _ still at least be aware of what he’s said.”

Dora smiled brightly. “Ah, I see. I do not wish to be like my brother.”

“You won’t be,” Sam said softly. “I’ll make sure of that.”

* * *

Hours later, long after the food and drink was gone, Sam’s phone buzzed in her backpack. She pulled it out and checked it, even though she knew for sure what it was. There were only two people in the entire ghost zone who could message her right now. “I think we can be done for now. I still need to get back to the human world before my family calls the FBI again.” 

Dora lifted her face to look at Sam; a slight frown marred her features, before she glanced over to see the candle on the table mostly burnt down. She gasped as she covered her mouth with both her hands and exclaimed, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize the time! Should I call for some refreshments before you go?” 

Sam shook her head. “Nah, it’s fine!” She held up a plastic bag with a few crumbs still left in it. “I brought a few snacks with me.”

Dora helped gather Sam’s books and stacked them. “You could have asked! I’d have sent for some more food to be brought to us.”

Taking the stacked books, Sam placed them in her backpack. “That’s… okay,” she said hesitantly. She stared at a few pieces of fruit still on the table. “I’m still a little uncomfortable with ghost vegetation after Undergrowth.”

Dora blinked a few times at that revelation. “Oh,” she said quietly, then with more volume, “I understand.” She gave a quick bow. “Thank you for your time.”

Sam smiled. “It’s my pleasure! It feels good trying to make an entire kingdom happier.”

“Happier…” Dora repeated morosely. Her eyes fell to the ground, and her shoulders sagged just slightly from her perfect posture. She turned and floated over to the window, which was a difference from her normal walking while in her castle.

“Dora?” Sam called out. She walked over to the window that Dora was looking out of. 

“Tell me, Sam,” Dora began, “does Phantom spend much time in his ghost form in his day-to-day life?”

Sam hesitated, unsure of what she was getting at. “No,” she answered. “He usually only goes ghost if he has something he needs to do.” 

Dora nodded solemnly. She looked at her hand and then reached over and grabbed Sam’s. “I cannot feel the heat from you. I know your touch should be warm. Instead, I feel only a pressure. It’s uncomfortable, in a strange way, rather than painful.” She let go of Sam’s hand and turned back toward the window. “It’s the same with the food we eat; much of it turns into ash in our mouths.” 

Sam blinked. “I… did not know that.” She rubbed her hand, still feeling a chill that ran deep into her bones where Dora touched her. “Danny’s mentioned that he doesn’t like eating as Phantom and that it feels weird.” 

“He must suffer the same then,” Dora mused. “This is true for everyone in my kingdom.” She turned back to Sam and placed her hands in the sleeves of her robe. “All of us miss something. We all have regrets. Things we wished we could have done. These things repeat in our minds for eternity.”

She floated away from the window. “I wished to go to a ball. I lived in a small castle with my brother. He was next in line to the throne, but he was ill-suited for it. My father had sent me to live there, and when my brother did not do as my father wished, he sent him there to continue his education.” 

Dora grabbed a grape from the table and inspected it. “My father had set up a ball for me to go to… to demonstrate me to potential father-in-laws. When my brother heard of this, he felt affronted that no ball was held for him, and he complained to my mother. She forbade me to go before she had confirmed that the ball was indeed for me instead of my brother. She left that night, leaving my brother in charge of the castle.”

Her hand turned clawed, and the grape was sliced to shreds in her talons. “We were attacked the night after, and all of us died.” 

She looked at her hand, staring at the scales that now covered it. “I never married, I never even saw someone who wasn’t in my retinue, I never made a decision for myself...” She let her hand fall to her side and brought her other hand up to her eyes, tears falling down her face. “I never got to dance.”

Sam watched for just a moment before marching over to Dora. Dora gasped when Sam entered her personal space, but Sam reached out and grabbed her clawed hand, interweaving their fingers. Sam tilted her head and smiled. “Well, let’s fix that.”

She placed her hand on Dora’s hip and began to guide her through what little Sam knew of classical dance. It took several steps for Dora to catch on and place her hand on Sam’s shoulder. 

Sam smiled at her. “Sorry, I don’t actually know how to dance like this.”

“Oh,” Dora whispered, before seeming to jolt in place. “Oh, no, you’re doing fine! Wonderful even!” Tears still fell from her face as Sam slowly led the dance, though they stopped for a brief moment when she jerked in pain. “Ow!”

Sam winced and looked down to watch her feet. “Sorry!” she said quickly, taking her foot off Dora’s. 

A chuckle escaped from Dora’s mouth before either of them knew it. “It’s okay.”

“I mean-”

“Samanatha,” Dora said sternly, “just keep dancing with me, please.” She took her hand off Sam’s shoulder to lift her chin up, making their eyes meet. 

Sam’s eyes widened at the touch for a moment before she smirked. “Of course, Your Highness, as you wish.” 

The two of them continued to dance, Sam beginning to get more confident and comfortable as she became used to the movements, in no small part because Dora would sometimes gently take the lead to let Sam understand what she was supposed to be doing. 

Sam took her hand away from Dora’s hip. The ghost tried to follow the removed hand for a moment before Sam led her into a spin. Dora laughed lightly as her skirt flared, rippling through the air. Sam caught her as Dora stumbled slightly and fell into her. 

The two of them devolved into a fit of giggles before they both jumped when music began to play. 

The two of them turned to see Danny and Tucker in the room as well, coming in via the window with the Specter Speeder outside it. Tucker was playing music from his PDA. Danny walked over to Dora and held out his hand. “May I have this dance?”

Dora took a step backwards. She looked Danny up and down before glancing at Sam, as if seeking her permission. 

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Well, Your Highness, what’s  _ your  _ decision?” Dora blinked in confusion at the question and Sam bumped her with her hip. “You’re the queen now. You get to make every decision you want. What do you want to do?”

A smile broke out on Dora’s face. She covered her mouth as she laughed, tears forming in her eyes as she looked at Danny. “No!” she shouted happily, before turning back to Sam and placing a hand on her shoulder.

Sam took Dora’s other hand, no longer clawed and draconic. She looked over Dora’s shoulder and smirked at Danny. “You heard the queen! Move along, peasant.”

“Peasant?” Danny shouted, placing a hand on his chest and falling back as if wounded, as Tucker cackled in the background. 

And Dora laughed happily. 


End file.
